Ingredients (serves 2)

• 100 g / 3.5 ounces semolina flour of good quality
• A pinch of salt
• 50 g / 1.75 ounces warm water 

Instructions

In a small bowl, weigh the flour, add the salt, then weigh the water. I recommend weighing both flour and water because the quantities involved are small. Using volume to measure the ingredients may lead to a significant error and if you are not familiar with how the dough feels, it would be difficult to correct it.

With a fork, spread the somewhat recalcitrant water through the flour. When there is no more free water, drop the fork in favor of your fingers, then use your hands. As you work the crumbly mix, you will see and feel it come together into a cohesive whole. The graininess persists for a while.

Empty the bowl onto your working surface, scraping well the bottom and side. Besides the shaggy dough, there will be some free flour. Start kneading the dough: push the dough away from you with their heel of your hand (given the small size of the dough, one hand will be enough), then with the help of the other hand gather it back toward you folding it on itself and turning it 90 degrees. Incorporate all the semolina flour. [You can watch my hands at work in this short video.]

Continue kneading the dough in the same way. You will see and feel the graininess give way to smoothness. You don’t need to flour your working surface, as the dough will not stick to it.

Knead the dough until it is smooth and firm, 8-10 minutes. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes or so, well-covered (e.g., in a small ziplock bag or wrapped in plastic film) so it doesn’t dry out.

Follow the chosen recipe to shape the dough.

For suggestions, visit the page on my blog where you can browse the complete collection of handmade pasta shapes, some of them of my own creation, a good number of them with accompanying video.

Go to the full post on semolina pasta dough / impasto per pasta di semola